ITHACA, N.Y. -- When it was over, the yellow goalposts on Schoellkopf Field were a victim of Cornell's success. The 12,000 fans sitting in the Crescent will long keep them on their mantels as souvenirs of one of the unlikeliest titles in school history.
After starting the season 1-2 under first-year head coach Jim Hofher, Cornell closed the campaign with a 21-15 victory over longtime rival Penn on Saturday, Nov. 17, 1990. At 6-1, the Big Red ended in a tie with Dartmouth at the top of the Ivy standings to give Cornell a share of its second Ancient Eight crown in the last three years. It's Cornell's third Ivy title since the official formation of the conference in 1956.
"When you've got a chance to compete for a championship, and you win it, there's nothing that compares to it," Hofher said.
Cornell, the Ivy League's leader in rushing and total offense, did its thing on the ground, piling up 140 yards on the ground and 149 through the air for the balanced attack necessary to hold the Quakers off guard. The defense limited Penn to six second half points and Cornell never trailed, though it couldn't pull away completely.
Senior quarterback Chris Cochrane, who closed his career No. 2 on the school's career passing yardage list with 2,784, rushed for a touchdown and threw for 139 total yards. John McNiff and Tom Dutchushyn also scored once apiece on the ground, with McNiff tallying 81 yards on the ground and catching two passes for 51 more. He piled up 239 all-purpose yards. Scott Oliaro ran for 54 yards on 14 carries and caught two passes for 43 yards.
Defensively, Don Printy had nine tackles and broke up a pass, Ardrell Mannings made eight stops and both Paul Tully and Gerry Willinger intercepted passes. Pat Fagan broke up a pair of Penn tosses. The defense made a huge stop late in the game with Penn hunting a go-ahead score. The visitors drove to the Cornell 23-yard line, but were stopped on a fourth-and-6 pass attempt to claim the win and the trophy.
The Quakers outgained the Big Red (305-289), had more first downs (19-16) and seemingly did everything they needed to accomplish to stay in the game. Adam Fishman connected on three field goals and quarterback Doug Hensch scored on a 1-yard plunge just before halftime to cut into the Big Red lead and make it 14-9 at the break.
